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Andromache
A hyperadvanced Prototype AI "Warrior" design, referred to as the CO-01(Combat Origin-01), Andromache, named "Ada" by her development team, is the Progenitor of a planned elite team of AI combat Agents that was shut down, mothballed and hidden deep away after the First Contact War in 2157. Mothballed, however, doesn't mean destroyed or utterly abandoned. She still has a purpose to serve, and can be seen as a means to an end. The question is, for who. Dossier Created as the basis prototype of the "Portal Project" in 2150, Andromache/Ada was intended as the commander of an elite team of AI soldiers that could be sent in against extraordinary threats and Extracted once the threat was neutralised, all without being seen, heard or recorded. Any soldier or electronic device would not be able to prove their existence or actions since a primary function was the ability to disable all "hostile" tech until Ordered otherwise, without Clearance to record and transmit from Fleet Command. Soldiers who tried to raise the issue were Court-Martialled and Dishonourably Discharged without further investigation. The rumours that some died when they still wouldn't let it go? Truth, the Project kept a team of Agents, referred to as "Sweepers", on retainer to deal with all eventualities. In 2152, an "Event" occurred which was recorded in no official or unofficial records. Andromache was single-handedly tested against a 3-man Special Operations combat team to evaluate her development and combat abilities. There were no survivors-and what was left wasn't fit to be displayed in public without reconstructive surgery. The awful injuries were explained as unshielded and unarmoured exposure to hard vacuum which saw them thrown through space and slammed repeatedly into a moving ships hull. Further field tests were forbidden until the "issues" were "ironed out". The Project Lead, Dr Adolph Hellin, aware that the entire Black Flag operation would be shut down and he and his entire team "Retired" with bullets to the back of the head if High Command didn't get results, changed focus. He shifted primary programming focus from combat to wetwork and intelligence, and in this the work he was doing flourished. Gathering data, from computers and people, and clean kills from both a distance and up close were perfect for the series. Ada was the only model not reprogrammed as the Prototype, since they needed the origin series intact for future reference. As a result, Ada was by far the most socially developed of her series as the scientists spent time simply talking to her and questioning her in their attempt to create true consciousness in an AI. To see what she might become as well as to determine what she might be capable of. To see if it was possible for a programmed AI to develop both a stable personality and stay sane in the long term, with tests at the beginning and end of each month to monitor her progress. Ada evolved and developed far more successfully than her successors, despite much more limited social contact and her restricted access to the lab where she was built and the base she was stationed in on Mars. Her combat skills are off of Human measurement charts-the Project had to design new one's specifically for the CO series. Thanks to a surprising source, she also developed a conscience. The source? A research and tech assistant named Stella Harrington. Stella was brilliant, intellectually, but had come aboard the "Portal Project" to get away from a collapsing personal life where a series of failed relationships with men and women and a total lack of social skills led to her looking at being Transferred to Fleet to work on R&D for weapons and other combat tech. To keep her away from constant complaints, arguments and increasingly angry junior staff who detested her. As well as senior staff who had grown extremely frustrated with her utter inability to work as part of a team. Those same qualities meant she got on well with Ada, who saw little point in all of the social cues regarded as "necessary" unless it was a formal setting. They watched recorded programs together, played games, sat and talked, debated the differences between right and wrong, considered the different kinds and forms of technology involved in the Project, debated which member of the Project team was the worst-dressed and most attractive... Stella never knew it, but she was what gave Ada perspective to determine her own choices and decisions, her "conscience". Emotions were far harder, but Ada needed time to learn, and with Stella's help she got three years, to 2155. Her Combat-focused programming wasn't intended for personality development or even a flicker of hesitation-but whenever she tried to think about things she "glitched" and hesitated, even if only for a fraction of a second, a moment so quick only a computer would catch it. She was evolving beyond her programming, and the Portal Project team were unable to determine what it could lead to... Until she kissed Stella and made a serious attempt to seduce her. Then actually complained and became grumpy, to the teams disbelief, when they were separated, even joking that it was "Just a bit of fun". Hellin wanted Stella out of the Sol system entirely, so he got her Transferred to Terra Nova and made sure she couldn't return. Ada didn't take it well, but she never pretended to be anything she wasn't. She continued to excel in all combat tests-but there were no more glitches. To the point the other 11 CO models were reassigned for reprogramming to resume their planned role. But the team found that copying Ada's programming and development was almost impossible, she was becoming so individual that they needed to consider copying over only the advanced combat skills and decision-making ability and wiping her Hard Drive to restore her to what they intended-then the First Contact War broke out in 2157... OC-1 through 12 would have been deployed to Shanxi, but the War ended when the Council stepped in before they could all be reprogrammed and tasked. When High Command discovered just how much of an "issue" AI was with the Council, and why? The entire Project was shut down and mothballed, hidden away under so many layers of red tape, bureaucracy, closed books and files that not even data traces or paper files remained. Only Hellin remained attached to the Project since it was his development, but the entire team was dismantled-bar CO-01, who was placed into Stasis. Hellin was never able to get authorisation to reactivate Ada, and was left with nothing but an office in his name in the guts of an experimental warfare facility so hidden away even the staff of the building were unaware of his presence. He was able to secure both funding and materials for upgrades and maintenance, since there was little point in having hardware or software operating on an outdated or defunct Operating System, but no more. Hellin knew his dreams were over, and his ambitions finished. He had set out to create an elite AI team that could easily supplant human soldiers and carry out any tasks or missions set them far more safely than a soldier or agent who took years to train. A team of AI soldiers who could think for themselves but who would never turn on Humanity. So he focused on what he had left and put everything he had left into it. Then retreated into a bottle of strong alcohol or drugs that took the pain away when he had nothing else. It's thanks to his constant upgrades and data dumps that she is even remotely aware of the Reapers existence. It's due to his work that, when the Reapers arrived in the Reaper War of 2186, she was able to survive. On the day the War began Hellin initiated Emergency Revival Protocols when Reaper creatures breached the facility and started tearing apart everyone and everything in it. She was reactivated and mobile in 60 seconds, which was one second too late for Hellin, who took a shotgun blast to the chest even as she booted up and died instantly with no shields or armour. She used everything in the room as a weapon and defense to get out intact-and didn't leave anything she could salvage behind her. In a scavenged Alliance regulation uniform which doesn't fit her properly, combat boots and armed with the weapons the Reaper creatures had been using, she hit the surface and walked into Hell. Vehicles, roads and buildings were exploding around her as Reaper capital ships fired on anything of value, running civilians died by the thousand as Reaper main guns and creatures tore through them. Soldiers, overwhelmed by an enemy they couldn't understand or hope to defeat, fought to the death to protect anyone they could any way they could. The decision was clear, even as she tried to take in exactly what she was seeing, let alone what she could do about it. This was exactly was she was designed and built to stop: now she had to find out how. On discovering that she had been kept in a Top Secret facility in Vancouver, she made for Alliance evacuation shuttles to discover whatever was left of a command structure and join the fight. The shuttle she was on was the same one Admiral David Anderson was aboard... Weapons/Skills Ada is strong enough to dual-wield heavy pistols and is programmed with the skillset and "experience" of an infinite number of combat training programs, so she easily qualifies as an N7 rated soldier. Analysis of her physical prowess, speed, strength and agility places her in top-tier Asari Commando ratings, but she has no Biotics. She carries twin Acolyte pistols modded for penetration and extended magazines. She also carries an M-98 Widow modded for penetration and extended magazine. She possesses the skills of AI Hacking, Neural Shock and Overload. She can use Armour-Piercing ammunition and Concussive Shot. Appearance/Design Six feet tall, with bright purple hair, golden eyes and a skin tone that suggests Indian ancestry, she has been described as a literal supermodel soldier. Her appearance can be altered easily, and is only so exotic because Hellin used his imagination to make her look different every time he saw her-knowing he could just press a button and she'd "Revert" to her standard of black hair, blue eyes and pale white skin. Her entire physical form has been constructed and reconstructed over decades, the latest upgrade being a total refit of her underarmour with Silaris armour. She can be "wounded" and "bleed" from her injuries, but the wounds will heal in seconds and she cannot bleed out no matter how severe the injury-the armour which protects critical system's is under her "skin". Her critical systems are based in her chest and the "control" in her skull, designed with multiple redundancies. She is powered by a miniaturised Mass Effect generator-if destroyed, the power release would atomise everything in half a mile. Her very nature means that she can Hack any system, security or otherwise, but Hacking her without direct access is very nearly impossible-a Reaper could do it, not much else. As a result, she has a unique link with the Geth when they make contact. Finally, her "scanning" abilities exceed any known Cloak tech. She can and will track down anyone concealed by one until she has a definite ID. She doesn't tire, feel pain or get distracted-except in extraordinary circumstances. She does have emotions, but has little idea how to use them. She is the first and, likely, last of her kind-and even she doesn't know just what she is capable of yet... Category:Artificial Intelligence Category:Female Category:Synthetic Characters Category:Characters